From the Principal's Desk

Mr Scott Thelning —

Goal: To have a strongly connected and engaged staff, school and community on our journey.

Tena koutou ki te whanau o te Cathedral Grammar School

I hope you have all had a fantastic past fortnight.

The above goal is one of four set for 2020 as a part of our strategy to achieve our 10 year aspirations (found on the homepage of Grammar Net). Over the past two weeks it has been great to provide four separate events that all have contributed towards our goal becoming reality.

First, we held our Internal Open Day, which had a particular focus on our Junior School families deepening their understanding of our Prep Schools. We had approximately 50 people attend the Chapel Service with our students, and then  approximately 30 stay on for the Prep School presentation, while the other 20 visited classrooms across the school. 

Thank you for the very positive feedback we have received regarding the time of year to present this information, the content, the staff involved and how it was presented. Many parents have said it was enlightening, myth busting and reassuring. It was particularly good for parents to meet and hear from Miss Ashworth and Ms Crase, the teachers of 4G and 4B respectively in 2018, and about the philosophy of the Prep Schools, their programmes, expectations and how teaching and learning occurs within and across both classrooms. The parents could see for themselves that there is a balance of work completed in books and using technology, reading is taught, homework is given and very good communication does take place. It was also very nice to have a parent speak of his experiences in the Prep School, with his sons in Year 4 and 7. 

I urge and encourage you to please come in and speak with us, talk to students and understand what is actual reality rather than rumour and playground chat. We have had a number of parents who have done this recently (thank you) and have discovered that the reality was positively different to what they had heard amongst the chat. Please, do not wonder and worry - come in and see for yourself.

Secondly, last week we held the first of two Concert Evenings celebrating the skills and talents of your children across dance, drama, movement and music. The Piano is a perfect venue for this and it was just wonderful for us to gather together as a community and celebrate with such pride all of the students who courageously performed so well on stage and entertained us for two hours. These students work so  hard at their lessons and we are very blessed to have a Music Director like Mrs Lowe who is always looking to see how she can improve aspects of her programme and provide further opportunities for our students, your children, to perform and shine. Congratulations to each and every student who took to the stage, and to Mrs Lowe for instigating and leading such a superb event. I am looking forward to the High Performers Music Celebration tonight. I have gone and purchased a bow tie!

Thirdly, we have provided four opportunities for parents to engage with us regarding our curriculum development, and updated e-learning policies, with a further two this week. Prior to the forums taking place we emailed all families a copy of the document that sets out the 'why' of our updated curriculum development. This is the foundation with which all teaching and learning at The Cathedral Grammar School will be pinned on and therefore provides context for stage 2 of this work, which is when the 'what' of our curriculum will be pulled together. Reassuringly for you as parents, we have decided to base our curriculum on the New Zealand Curriculum, which is widely recognised across the world as being a high quality and relevant  curriculum, and is also used by most of the independent schools in Christchurch. We have also aligned much of our thinking to the principles and research from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and OECD, and are also engaging with the secondary schools we contribute to to ensure we have alignment there also. Approximately 30-35 people attended these sessions and it has been valuable to receive feedback as we work through this process. 

We have been heartened to hear that people connect with our vision and philosophy for teaching and learning, and support our passion for ensuring we have literacy and numeracy at the core of all we do, together with the key concepts, knowledge, skills, qualities and dispositions that your child/children will need to thrive in their future. 

Please keep your eye out for ways to engage with us. It is very important we develop this together and understand the pathway we are taking. We value your feedback and want to ensure we are strongly connected and engaged. 

Fourthly, many thanks to the amazing Friends' Association for the lovely evening at The Court Theatre last Saturday night. It was great to be able to come together as staff and parents in a social setting, enjoy each others company and have a laugh watching a great show! Thank you also for the discos that you provided for our students. They were great fun and created a happy atmosphere for all to release their moves on the dance floor. We all appreciate what you do for us - thank you!

Another one of our goals is associated with communication. We are aware that while at some point in the past some people held a view that we didn't communicate enough, we have now possibly tipped the scales too far the other way. Over the holidays and early next term we are conducting a review of the quality and quantity of the different forms of communication that comes from us with a view to streamlining and simplifying. Thank you for your patience as we work through this.

This week we bid farewell to our amazing two tutors - Michaela Le Vatte and Ed Manning. It is amazing how fast the year zooms by and it is always sad to see them go, especially as we feel we have just got to know them so very well. Michaela and Ed have been fantastic - both caring, nurturing, reliable, keen, supportive, happy to do anything and fully a part of our school community. They have loved their time here at The Cathedral Grammar School, and have loved both Christchurch and New Zealand. We wish them both all the very best from us all and thank them for their many and varied contributions. Keep in touch Michaela and Ed!

We also unfortunately farewell Denise Doherty, our Office Secretary. Denise has secured the position of EA to the Rector of St Bede's College. We have appreciated the way in which Denise has approached the varied nature of her role, juggled the multiple tasks that are constantly put her way, and been a part of our school community! This is a great promotion for Denise and while we are very sad to see her go, we know this is a positive step for her and wish her all the very best. Thank you Denise, take care!

Congratulations to the following Year 8 students who have been offered and accepted scholarships to secondary schools in 2019. We are proud of your achievements and know that you will make the most of what you have been provided.

  • Ella Matthews - Burnside High
  • Caitlin Dufty - St Margaret's College
  • Sophie O'Connor - St Andrew's College
  • ​Lachlan McVicar - Christ's College
  • George Pearse - Christ's College 
  • Angus Gifford - Christ's College
  • Daniel Bridgman- Christ's College
  • James Lange - Christ's College

I hope you find time over the school holiday break to have fun together as a family.

See you next term - ready for Circus Circus and Madagascar!

Nga mihi

Scott Thelning